So Worth It
by Alory Shannon
Summary: An innocent compliment to Lenalee's legs is overheard by everyone's favorite hyperprotective big brother. One-shot drabble.


A/N: Written for irishmastermind on LJ.

* * *

"…Say, whose Innocence do you think is the best?" Johnny asked one evening as he, Allen, Lavi, Kanda, and a few other members of the Science Division were walking back to the labs after dinner.

"Hmm…" Reever rubbed his chin with a noncommittal hum. "Well, they're all so different, I dunno if you can really compare them well enough to judge. Some of them sure are a lot more convenient than others, though."

"Yeah…Krory's great to have around, but I wouldn't want to have bite Akuma all the time to fight them, or drink their blood," Allen agreed with a smile and a bit of a wince. "Even if it _does_ taste just like tomato juice to him."

"True, but parasite-types like his 'n' yours 're probably better in a fight," Lavi put in thoughtfully. "Ya don't hafta worry if ya get hit with the Akuma virus, and since it's a part of your body, your sync rate's higher, which is really probably the most important thing."

"_Che._ Parasite-types are unpredictable. They rely too much on emotions," Kanda snorted. "They shorten your life span, too—" he turned a hard, pointed stare on Allen "—not that I'm complaining about _that."_

Allen returned the expression, and both men's stares soon hardened into matching dark glowers; the sudden crackle of electricity and the spitting of sparks was almost audible, the rising tension so thick it was nearly tangible. Everyone else in the little group moved away from them just slightly, giving them some extra space just in case.

"No one asked _you,_ girly-face," Allen growled through gritted teeth, "And what's the big idea following us around like this, huh?"

"I'm not," Kanda snapped, tilting his chin haughtily, refusing to be the one to look away first. _"You're_ the ones following _me._ I have to turn in my report from my latest mission, or I wouldn't be here at all."

"Uh, hey! What about you, Lavi?" Reever cut in loudly, turning to the Junior Bookman in the hopes of drawing Allen's attention away from the dark-haired swordsman. "Whose Innocence do you think is best?"

Lavi grinned, crossing his arms behind his head as they rounded a corner and continued on down the adjacent corridor. "Heh, that's easy! I think the Dark Boots are the best, of course!"

His staring contest with Kanda abruptly forgotten, Allen turned a look that was thoroughly unimpressed, and only a few shades away from disgust, on the smiling redhead. "…Yeah, I guess you would…"

"Aww, don't be like that, moyashi!" Lavi said, a wheedling tone in his voice as he draped an arm over Allen's shoulders, ignoring the way the younger boy bristled at the disliked nickname. "She's the only person we've seen with a crystal-type Innocence, after all! Seriously, how can ya think anything else?"

"I _think_ I told you not to call me that." Allen attempted to shrug his way out of the impromptu embrace without success, his expression going flat and unimpressed again. It shifted to a more considering one a moment later though as he admitted, "…And…I guess I hadn't really thought about that, to be honest."

"Trust me," Lavi said, his grin wider than ever as they approached the door to Komui's office. "Just take a good, long look at those gorgeous, amazing legs next time you see Lenalee, and—"

Whatever else the Junior Bookman had been about to say was cut off as, with a whirring of drills and the clang of heavy metal footsteps, a (rather distressingly) familiar-looking humanoid robot came crashing through the half-open door to Komui's office. It paused for an instant, the terrifying warning whine of the at _least_ half-a-dozen drills that had been concealed in its arms, shoulders, and who knew where else stopping just long enough for the Exorcists and Science Division members to hear a far-too-cheerful voice calling from behind it: "OH MY, LAVI, IT SEEMS WE NEED TO RUN SOME TESTS ON YOUR INNOCENCE—AND OF COURSE WE'LL NEED YOU HERE WHILE WE DO IT!" The European Branch Supervisor's tone suddenly went dark and dangerous as the man himself stepped into view, glasses glinting ominously: _**"RESTRAIN THE SUBJECT, KOMLIN-EX-2."**_

Allen took advantage of the Junior Bookman's moment of stunned horror to duck out of Lavi's grasp, moving away to press his back against the nearest wall; he hadn't forgotten his first encounter with the Komlin series, and wasn't likely to do so any time soon. Friend and comrade or not, he had no desire to look like an accomplice and wind up sharing Lavi's unfortunate (and unavoidable) fate.

…_And after a comment like that…yeah, he really does sort of have this coming…_ Allen thought a little unsympathetically, watching as Lavi gave a yelp and only narrowly dodged the robot's first attack before sprinting back the way they'd come, babbling a mix of protests, apologies, and admonishments-the last directed at his companions for not helping him.

The truth of the matter was, faced with the shadowy, evil aura currently surrounding Komui Lee like mist coming off a particularly sinister lake, none of them dared attempt a rescue just yet (or cared enough to get involved, in Kanda's case). After all, even if it caught him, Komlin-EX-2 wouldn't kill him.

Probably. Hopefully.

And anyway, one look at the Branch Supervisor's face and they all knew that really, only Lenalee herself could save Lavi now.

* * *

"It was just a compliment, I tell ya—a _compliment! YOW! _HEY, watch where you're swingin' those arms, ya overgrown trashcan!"

On reaching a stairwell, Lavi swung himself over the railing, slinging himself into the level below; he hit the ground running, skidded around a few corners, then ducked into a nearby alcove, pressing himself tightly against the wall. Komlin-EX-2 was too big, its chassis too inflexible, to copy a move like that, so he should've bought himself a chance to catch his breath at least. His hand closed around the hammer in its holster on his leg, but only with obvious reluctance. It was impossible to make full use of Tessei there in the close quarters of the Order's hallways, and he didn't really want to go smashing through walls and such anyway. They'd only just moved into this place after the last one was destroyed, ruining this one so soon would be a real shame. Still, if it came down to it—

"Lavi? What are—"

The redhead whirled, reflexively reaching out to clamp a hand over the newcomer's mouth to silence them; only when he found himself staring down into a pair of wide violet eyes did it register that the voice had been Lenalee's.

Obviously. Well, it was obvious _now,_ anyway. Aaaand he should probably let go of her before she kicked him somewhere sensitive. Which was all of him, really, especially if she used those boots of hers.

With a sheepish little laugh, he dropped his hand, scratching the back of his head nervously with his other hand. "Whoops, sorry, Lenalee! But, ah, well, y'see…" He froze as a suspiciously metallic-sounding _clank_ came from around the corner. Edging forward, Lavi peeked around it, cautiously looking both ways…but the coast was clear so far as he could see, so he stepped back and beamed down at Lenalee. "Eh, Komui just sicced one of his crazy robots on me, 'cause he thought I said somethin' about you he didn't like. Looks like I managed to shake 'im, though."

Lenalee blinked, though she'd destroyed enough of Komui's robots already that the shade of curiosity in her expression had to be due to something else. "He did? What did you—"

The rest of her question was lost as the wall behind them all but exploded, two metal hands tearing through the dust and rubble to make a grab for the Junior Bookman.

"**SUBJECT LOCATED: PROCEED TO EX-2-TERMINATE—"**

There was a crackle of a wholly _different_ kind of energy, and with a metallic _crunch_ and a whine of desperately-working servos, the robot went flying back through the crumbling hole it had just made. Lavi, who had moved to shield Lenalee from the debris during the initial attack, gaped up at her from the floor, where he'd ended up when the very girl he'd been trying to protect had shoved him away—she'd needed space in order to counterattack, and hadn't wanted him to get caught in it. Pushing him out of the way had been her only option.

Before the dust had settled or the flabbergasted Junior Bookman could find either his voice or his breath, Lenalee grabbed him, catching him up off the floor and tucking him under her arm before dashing after the robot, the power of her boots and his startled, desperate clinging more than enough to enable her to carry him, for a short time at least.

Another kick sent the already pitifully-crumpled-looking robot sailing down the hallway and back into the stairwell, wavering a moment before flipping over the guard rail to crash to the basement floor four stories below. Before it even hit the ground, Lenalee had reached the stairwell, and the exact same spot on the guard rail; one boot tapped lightly on the metal railing, then with an effortless leap, she all but flew to the top floor, carefully depositing Lavi on the uppermost landing. Then with a graceful backflip, she sailed clear over the railing, turning another two flips in the air before landing squarely, spike-heels-first, on Komlin-EX-2, slamming it down into the ground; her subsequent jump returned her to the top floor before the robot even exploded.

Lavi's single visible eye was wide, and Lenalee wasn't even breathing hard—it had taken her ten seconds, perhaps fifteen at the most, to utterly destroy the crazed machine that had had him running for his life for the past half-hour.

…_Yeah, the Dark Boots are _definitely_ the best._

"What—" Lenalee began again, but the sound of metal shrieking swallowed up her words as another, much larger robot—Komlin-EX-2B, according to the name painted on its side—tore away the railing in front of them with one giant metal hand, clinging to the wall with another pair and reaching for Lavi with three others.

The only reaction the redheaded Exorcist managed to get out was a petrified squeak before the Dark Boots struck again, Lenalee nothing more than a blur of motion as she crushed arm after arm; in a handful of heartbeats, she'd sent the second robot the same way as the first, leaving it in a twisted, sparking heap on the basement floor.

Landing with a deceptively light clip of boots on marble tile, Lenalee's Innocence deactivated as she came to stand beside Lavi, who was still on his knees, right where she'd left him.

"Lavi," Lenalee said evenly, after they'd both stared down at the smouldering remains of the robots below for a minute or so (and if _another one_ interrupted her _again,_ she was going to start getting annoyed), "Just what did you say that made my brother so angry?"

The Junior Bookman seemed to have recovered quite thoroughly from his earlier open-mouthed astonishment, judging by the cheeky, devil-may-care grin he turned up at her.

"Nothin' that ain't true! I just said," Lavi chuckled, "That you had some _seriously_ gorgeous legs," and punctuated his statement by planting a kiss on the soft, exposed skin of her thigh, right above the top of her leggings, with a resounding _smack._

Lenalee's leg lashed out once more, her knee catching Lavi squarely in the face, her body moving reflexively before she could really even process what he'd just said, much less what he'd just done.

_So. Totally. Worth it._ Was Lavi's last thought before his eye rolled back into his head and he fell backwards in a boneless sprawl, a blissful smile on his face.

Lenalee gave a startled "Oh!" and caught him before his head could hit the floor, though his unexpected weight and the awkward angle were enough to make her drop to her knees. She hadn't meant to hit him _that_ hard…or at all, really, even if he did pretty much have it coming for doing something so brazen.

No wonder her brother had been so angry with him.

Still, it hadn't been _that_ bad, he was too heavy to move when he'd gone deadweight like this, and just leaving him here alone when Komui was in one of his moods didn't sit right with her; so with a sigh, Lenalee settled in to wait for a little while, leaning back against the wall, Lavi lying on his side with his head pillowed on her lap. Impulsively she rested a hand on his head, the touch turning to a tentative pat, followed by another and another, each longer than the last. His hair was unexpectedly soft—not as soft as Kanda's, but then no one's was, not even her own—but softer than Allen's and Komui's. Soon she found she couldn't help threading her fingers through it again and again, a fond smile coming over her face as she smoothed it down, a tiny, contented sigh leaving her lips as she continued to stroke his hair.

…And at that, the _completely_ conscious Junior Bookman's smile widened: enough that the corner of his mouth brushed against that soft skin a second time.

_OH yeah. Totally, totally worth it._


End file.
